From: Michael Holmes (holmic@bethel.edu)
Date: Wed Jul 10 1996 - 17:02:45 EDT
At 02:45 PM 7/10/96 EDT, you wrote:
>While we're on the subject of Phoebe, how about Junias, as in, "Greet
Andronicus
>and Junias...they are outstanding among the apostles..."
>
>This verse raises two significant questions:
>
>1. Is Junias male or female? I have seen both assertions, as well as an
>assertion that it could be either. BAGD says that a female Junias is "a lexical
>possibility", Robertson's Word Pictures says that Junias could be either
male or
>female. Is anybody familiar with the arguments here? What does BAGD mean by "a
>lexical possibility"?
>
>2. How are we to interpret "outstanding among the apostles"?
>
>
>Jonathan
>
>
Richard Cervin ("A Note Regarding the Name 'Junia(s)' in Romans 16:7," New
Test. Studies 40 [1994] 464-470) concludes: "A proper examination of the
linguistic evidence regarding the name _Iunia_ shows that the name is
feminine, not masculine. The masculine form of the name is _Iunius_ in Latin
and IOUNIOS in Greek (accusative forms: _Iunium_ and IOUNION respectively).
There is thus no ambiguity in the morphology of the masculine and feminine
forms of this name in either language. The theory that the name is
_Iunias_, and may be a shortened form of the masculine name _Iunianus_, is
groundless because there is so far no empirical evidence to support such a
theory." (p. 470).
As for the second question, Lightfoot understood them to be apostles;
"Except to escape the difficulty involved in such an extension of the
apostolate [i.e., beyond the number 12], I do not think the words OITINES
EISIN EPISHMOI EN TOIS APOSTOLOIS would have been rendered 'who are highly
esteemed by the Apostles.' The Greek fathers took the more natural
interpretation" [i.e., 'among the apostles'] (Lightfoot, _Galatians_, 96).
The issue in his day [an argument about the meaning of apostle--just twelve,
or a larger group] was different than our argument [is the woman Junia an
apostle or not], but his observation--"except to escape"--may yet be to the
point?
Mike Holmes
Bethel College
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